This invention relates in general to the field of manufacturing, and more particularly, to a material management system and method.
Manufacturing operations generally require purchasing and maintaining an inventory of material for fabricating products. Efficient use of the material inventory generally reduces costs associated with fabricating the products. One example of a material management system for efficient use of material inventory utilizes visual product representations stored in a computer memory. An operator of the system may select one or more of the product representations to be displayed on a computer screen where the operator may interactively arrange the product representations into an acceptable layout or fabrication nest for a particular size of material to optimize use of the material. The fabrication nest may then be stored in the computer and used in fabricating the products from the material.
Additionally, computer systems are generally used in material management systems for tracking the material inventory throughout the manufacturing operations so that additional material may be purchased and received to meet manufacturing or delivery schedules. For example, various types, sizes and thicknesses of material may be required to support manufacturing various products. The computer systems may be generally used for determining the material that has been removed from inventory to support the fabrication of one or more products and determining the material that remains in inventory to support future fabrication requirements.
However, prior material management systems generally require time consuming manual manipulation of the product representations for determining the fabrication nest for a particular size of material. Additionally, changes in the material size used to fabricate the products generally require determining a new fabrication nest to accommodate the change in material size. Further, selection of the visual product representations for determining the fabrication nest may not provide for optimum use of the material inventory or optimum use of other aspects of the manufacturing operations.
Accordingly, a need has arisen for an improved material management system and method.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a material management system and method are provided that address disadvantages and problems associated with prior art material management systems and methods. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a material management system comprises a data storage device containing order information for a product, product information for the product, work center information for fabricating the product, and inventory information for fabricating the product. The material management system also includes a processor coupled to the data storage device. The material management system further includes a nesting application operable for execution on the processor and for determining a fabrication nest for the product using the order information, the product information, the work center information, and the inventory information.
According to another embodiment of the invention, a method for material management comprises retrieving order information for a product from a data storage device, retrieving product information for the product from the data storage device, and retrieving work center information for fabricating the product from the data storage device. The method also includes retrieving inventory information for fabricating the product. The method further includes determining a fabrication nest for the product using the order information, the product information, the work center information, and the inventory information.
Embodiments of the invention provide several technical advantages. For example, one embodiment of the invention provides a material management system that determines a fabrication nest by coordinating open orders for the products, the material inventory used in making the products, and the work centers used for fabricating the products to efficiently manage and use material inventory. Additionally, because the invention utilizes work center information to determine the fabrication nest, products may be fabricated more efficiently without time consuming work center tooling changes.
Other technical advantages will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following figures, descriptions, and claims.